The Harsh Realities of Visitations From Behind A Cabin Window – By Journalist Jila Baniyhagoob

Monday April 16th, 2012 – [Jila Baniyaghoob] Monday is once again upon us, bringing with it visitation day for political prisoners at Evin prison. It is time to once again visit our loved ones from behind a cabin window… but this time because of the lack of space some of us had to sit behind cabin windows with bars. As if the thick double pane glass was not bad enough, we now had to contend with metal bars

The atmosphere is distressing and uncomfortable. Atefeh says that she had not been granted a face to face visitation with her family for more than six months. Farzaneh describes how painful it is to visit with loved ones from behind a cabin window.

The truth is the atmosphere in the visitation room is always somewhat depressing. The opaque, double pane windows and thick metal bars, the telephones with the unbearable static noise that make is so difficult for one to hear ones loved one, and let us not forget the button on the damn phone that the prisoner is constantly forced to press down when speaking – the damn thing is so hard that their fingers get tired and their voices are often cut off. They say the button is designed to facilitate the conversation. What a cryptic telecom system! Could they not have designed something that does not involve a button that the prisoner is forced to press on during the entire duration of the conversation?

The visitation room is very poorly lit, creating a dark and bleak atmosphere. There are not enough chairs for the prisoners and their family members to sit on and as a result each time many are forced to stand during the entire duration of their visit. We have complained to the prison officials on numerous occasions regarding the lack of chairs. How much can it cost to supply the prisoners and their families with second hand, plastic chairs?

The atmosphere in the visitation room is tormenting. The filthy chairs look as though they have not been washed in years. This week I spoke with the prison official and asked that we be allowed to bring cleaning material to clean the chairs ourselves. Atefeh says that the condition of the visitation room is an insult to human dignity.

Our visitation ends and Atefeh says referring to the prisoners: “They seemed so down today… “.

I was in the midst of a conversation with Bahman when the damn curtain dropped and the telephone went dead. It has been this way for ever. So many half finished sentences. So many thoughts left unsaid until the next visitation when the curtain will once again cut you off in mid sentence. Every time the curtain drops, it seems as though you forget what it is that you were about to say….

Before the curtain dropped, I placed my hand on the double pane window and Bahman placed his on the other side right across from mine…

… and this is a visitation from behind a cabin window described in a nut shell…